


Time Machine

by orphan_account



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Catra (She-Ra) Redemption, F/F, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mutual Pining, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 04:37:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20186389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: You lit the fireThen drank the waterYou slammed that doorAnd left me standing all aloneWe wrote the storyWe turned the pagesYou changed the endLike everybody said you wouldI should've seen it comingIt should've sent me runningThat's what I get for loving youIf I had a time machineAnd if life was a movie sceneI'd rewind and I'd tell meRunAnd we were never meant to beSo if I had a time machineI'd go back and I'd tell meRunRun





	Time Machine

Gazing across the ruins of Etheria, Catra hummed. It was a contemptuous little sound, with faint undertones of static. Since Adora--- since the fall of She-Ra, the corruption had been spreading steadily across what flesh remained of her form. The tug of the void was incessant, needling her whenever she was left alone with her thoughts. Considering she was wandering the lifeless remains of the planet, she found herself in such a state more than she would like. With the princess of power out of the picture, the rest of the rebellion had fallen with little more than a flick of her perpetually glitching wrist. Had she intended for everything to go to total shit after the fact? Oh, stars no. Ruling the ghosts of what used to be a thriving society wasn’t particularly fulfilling, considering they only truly existed in her mind. The few who had managed to survive the fallout weren’t particularly concerned with the jaded ruler and her fleeting whims. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Two individuals in particular were especially concerned, but arguing with Catra had never been fruitful-- even when she wasn’t fueled with all the righteous fury of a scorned lover. Though to call them lovers was a stretch, and the thought made the woman scoff derisively. Maybe in her dreams, once upon a time. She’d never have admitted that in the past but keeping the whole thing under wraps seemed petty when Adora could never hear the confession. 

Her tail flicked with agitation at the thought of the traitor, her entire body vibrating with a loud buzz before she managed to regain her composure. She’d never been particularly fond of… feelings, at the best of times. They always got in the way of her most brilliant schemes. How different things could have been if she’d shed the accursed things many years ago. The corruption had numbed what she would have called ‘softer’ emotions. Entrapta hypothesized that it was a self-preservation method, to cope with the ‘smothering sense of loss’. Catra told her she could _hypothetically_ fuck off. So what if she was the one who coined the melodramatic phrase in the first place? Playing it back on that damned recorder was a low blow, honestly.

Speaking of Entrapta, Catra’s ears perked with faint interest as the corrupted part of her thrummed in a way that had become familiar over the years. She considering striking some kind of intimidating stance, but it was Entrapta and she was fucking exhausted. So when the violet-haired scientist stepped out of a portal in front of her, Catra wasn’t terribly surprised by her first comment.

“Your posture is suffering terribly, Catra! I could run some tests… oh, it can wait. Scorpia and I have been working on something in your absence, and she insisted I show you immediately upon completion!” 

“Where is the beautiful disaster herself?” Catra mumbled, her voice gravelly. 

“Oh. She told me… wait--,” Entrapta, paused, grabbing her recorder and playing back a short clip. 

_Tell the miserable bastard I said hi, and… oh. Hi Wildcat. Don’t fuck this up. You’re welcome, by the way._

Catra scowled at the saccharine sweet tone the massive woman had affected upon realizing she was being recorded. Her once sweet and oblivious friend had perhaps changed the most over the years. She supposed the destruction of mankind could have that effect on someone, though she knew it was more likely that Scorpia had been in Catra’s company far too long.

“I’m a bad influence,” she pointed out in a deadpan tone.

“Yes, well, ‘bad’ is subjective, Catra. ...Is the corruption still spreading? Oh, that makes this even better news!!!” Entrapta cheered.

“You do know I will cease to exist when I’m fully corrupted?” Catra retorted boredly, mostly resigned to her fate.

“Of course. I’m the one who first brought up the theory, you know--! Oh, stop distracting me. Scorpia wanted this to go perfectly.” Entrapta said, fumbling as she pulled a small object out of her pocket. “Ta-da!!!!” 

Catra stared at the almost laughably tiny device, unimpressed until the corruption seemed to shudder. 

“First one’s tech,” she sneered.

“Yep! The last piece of first one’s technology in this reality,” the scientist said agreeably. Catra’s eyes bulged and Entrapta seemed to recognize her shock. “Oh. Yeah. When you’re fully corrupted, what’s left of Etheria goes kaput!”

“The hell do you mean? We’ve been maintaining the reserves this whole time,” Catra hissed, the tip of her tail quickly twitching from side to side.

“We’re living on borrowed time, Catra. Scorpia and I have come to terms with that. But this can fix things. Fix everything! With this device you can travel to any point in this reality’s timeline--” Entrapta paused, grabbing Catra by the wrist and pressing the device into her palm. She gestured to a series of flashing numbers. “Scorpia insisted you would want to go back to the day Adora found the sword, and the projected outcomes from adjusting that point are equally as promising as the rest, so I took the liberty of setting it up!”

Catra examined Entrapta for a moment before glancing down at the final piece of first one’s tech. 

“I can change… everything? I can make it so Adora never leaves the Horde?” She asked, cursing herself for sounding almost hopeful. Entrapta nodded enthusiastically, hesitating before drawing the feline closer with her twin ponytails. Catra stiffened and even Entrapta seemed somewhat uncomfortable. “You’re hugging me.”

“Well, this will likely be the last time we see each other! And… I’ll miss you,” the scientist said tentatively, her face scrunched up in confusion. Catra took a moment to process what she was being told, pensively considering the device. She could change the entire timeline. Wipe away the entire war-- Adora would never leave her. They could rise up in the ranks together like they’d always planned. She could be… happy. Everything she’d ever wanted was gripped in her hand, endless opportunities and unlimited potential. Adora would be hers. She may never meet Scorpia or Entrapta, but she very well could. It was possible. Anything was possible. 

Catra finally had what she had always so desperately wanted. 

Control.

As Entrapta stepped away, presumably to leave, Catra grabbed her by the shoulder. The scientist tilted her head inquisitively.

“Can you set this to another point?” The feline asked mildly, her entire form glitching for a moment. Entrapta’s eyes widened, and she fumbled to take the device.

“Yes, yes! But you need to act quickly. You… you’re almost out of time.”

Catra smiled for the first time in what seemed an eternity, chuckling breathily at the scientist’s confusion at the coordinates she had requested.

“I have nothing but time,” she replied, yanking the device out of Entrapta’s hands before the scientist could process what she was planning. “Bye. I… I love you guys. Tell Scorpia, alright?” Entrapta nodded mutely, mouth agape as her eyes narrowed in thought. Her eyes widened just as Catra activated the time machine, crying out to the corrupted woman as she phased out of existence.

It took less than a second to arrive at her location and Catra smiled with impressed bemusement. She almost thought it wouldn’t work. She should have put more faith in her friends-- she should have done a lot of things. 

Looking up, she found that as she’d scarcely dared to hope, she was exactly where she intended to be. The day that had turned the tides of the entire war-- the day she lost Adora forever. 

In the distance, she could see a younger version of herself grappling with She-Ra. Even at that point in the timeline, her body pulsed with corrupted power. She strode towards her past self and her oldest friend turned enemy, the smile never leaving her face. She’d lost so much, lost everything. Adora had thrown her away like she was garbage, less than garbage! But that wasn’t really true, was it? She hadn’t lost Adora, not really. The oblivious idiot tried so hard to help her, until the very end. Until she met her demise. Until Catra killed her-- and a part of herself in the process. Even when her friends, her real friends, had tried valiantly to convince her to give up. Told Adora that Catra could never change. Catra could never be fixed. She never even realized she needed to be fixed. Now… 

Her past self was the first to notice her, startling slightly from her position hanging off the ledge of the cliff. Their eyes met, and Catra tried to make herself understand. Would have dropped to her knees and begged if there were enough time-- but if anyone knew the younger feline, it was Catra herself. So when She-Ra rushed to help her, the older Catra wasn’t terribly surprised when her past self followed through with the simple action that had driven Etheria to its end. Just as she was back on stable ground, she ducked behind the princess of power and gave her a mighty push-- everything she’d smothered exploding out of her to send She-Ra towards the fate she had just been spared. 

Catra’s claws flexed as she gripped the back of She-ra’s tunic. Her past self stared at her with terrified bewilderment, staggering back as Catra lifted the warrior with ease. She-ra looked between the two versions of the feline in obvious confusion, crying out in shock as she was forcibly shifted back into the person Catra loved. Had always loved-- loved to death, in the end. Catra met this past Adora’s gaze, holding it as she simply embraced her for a moment. There was so much she wanted to say. Things she’d never had the chance to say, things that could have changed their intertwined fates as easily as the time machine. Instead, she pressed a kiss to Adora’s forehead before gingerly placing her on the ground. There wasn’t enough time. Was there ever?

“Run.” She ordered gently, releasing Adora.

Turning and steeling her gaze, Catra rushed the younger version of herself. She tackled her off the side off the cliff, Adora’s desperate screams ringing out above them as they plummeted towards the Earth below. She held her younger self with something akin to kindness, the corruption spreading across both of their bodies. To her surprise, the younger version of herself wasn’t fighting. She raised a brow, both of them glitching sporadically. 

“Somehow, I always knew it would end this way,” the young Catra said, smiling balefully. To anyone else, it wouldn’t have made sense. But… it was just the two of them, and time was up.

“I know.” Catra murmured, holding herself close as they blinked out of existence.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm a sad sack, catra's a sad sack, moping over our princesses. my idiot cat daughter is doing her best. :(


End file.
